People from around the county celebrated the 250th birthday of the United States of America this past weekend.
The America 250 celebration included two days of events organized by the Macon County 250th Committee, a partnership of the Town of Franklin, Macon County, the Franklin Chamber of Commerce and the Macon County Fair Association.
On Friday, July 3 teams participated in a variety of competitions at Parker Meadows. The watermelon eating contest drew participants of all ages.
On Saturday, July 4 the day began with the Town of Franklin’s annual parade down Main Street followed by free watermelon, the Little Mr. and Miss Firecracker contest, patriotic pet contest, food trucks, and a water feature by the Franklin Fire Department.
The celebration moved to the Macon County Rec Park in the afternoon with bouncy houses, games and food trucks. The Folk Heritage Association of Macon County offered sack races and three-legged races for children (and big kids too) along with hands-on activities in the pavilion.
The music line up for the evening included Blue Jazz, the Darren Nicholson band, local favorite Low Tide, Carolina 441 and recent American Idol hopeful Braden Rumfelt.
Fireworks glitch
A technical problem left many people disappointed with the fireworks show Saturday night at the Rec Park.
The fireworks were scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. Viewers had set up in the park and at select locations across the area to see the spectacle, some setting up hours in advance to secure their seats. They saw the show start at first with a burst of fireworks, followed by 10-minute pauses and more bursts. In total, three bursts of fireworks went off, spending the whole show’s worth of shells in three quick shots.
The Town of Franklin contracted with Munnerlyn Pyrotechnics for $45,250 to produce the fireworks show. Town Manager Amie Owens said Franklin has been working with Munnerlyn since 2024, after their previous pyrotechnics vendor, Deep South Fireworks, retired in 2023. The cost of the fireworks then was $15,000, Owens said. Town spending on fireworks increased to $25,250 in 2025.
Owens said the town’s contract for 2026 “was more expensive due to the nationwide demand for 250th fireworks celebrations, and number and size of the pyrotechnics.” She said the size of the fireworks shells increased from three to four inches to five inches, and the show was expected to last a full 20 minutes compared to the 12 minutes of previous shows.
“Munnerlyn Pyrotechnics is investigating the technical difficulties that occurred,” Owens said. “Munnerlyn tested the firing system and the program design at their facility prior to the show and did do test shots using it. The system was new and the manufacturer, Cobra, has been contacted related to the failure.”
She said the town would meet with Munnerlyn on July 7 to discuss a “remedy” to the situation.
"Providing free events to citizens and visitors rather than charging admission is and continues to be a goal for the town and other event sponsors,” Owens said. “There are things outside the control of event coordinators such as the weather or in this case, technical difficulties. The 250th Committee, while disappointed in the execution of the fireworks display, was happy with the turnout to the July 4th celebration and appreciative of the musical acts that performed throughout the day, the food vendors and others who provided activities allowing families and friends to be together and celebrate our nation. Braden Rumfelt provided additional entertainment time as an alternative while the technical difficulties with the fireworks were being addressed and we thank him and his team for that."